


Just One Day in a Sweet Life

by gwyllion



Category: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-18
Updated: 2009-05-18
Packaged: 2017-11-25 18:04:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/641550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwyllion/pseuds/gwyllion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I first saw BBM only two months ago, and like many writers, I was compelled to give the story a happy ending to stop myself from crying.  I wrote this one-shot in a notebook during a nine-day backpacking trip.  This is my first attempt at writing fiction.  Much has been written about these characters during the past three years, but, unfortunately, I haven’t had time to read as much as I would have liked yet.  I feel a sense of urgency to post this one-shot before I become too engrossed in trying to measure up to the creativity of others.  Perhaps other writers can reminisce back to only a few weeks after they first saw the movie.  If they can, they will know exactly where I’m coming from.  In this one-shot, we look in on Jack and Ennis as they enjoy their sweet life together.  Thanks for reading.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Just One Day in a Sweet Life

**Author's Note:**

> I first saw BBM only two months ago, and like many writers, I was compelled to give the story a happy ending to stop myself from crying. I wrote this one-shot in a notebook during a nine-day backpacking trip. This is my first attempt at writing fiction. Much has been written about these characters during the past three years, but, unfortunately, I haven’t had time to read as much as I would have liked yet. I feel a sense of urgency to post this one-shot before I become too engrossed in trying to measure up to the creativity of others. Perhaps other writers can reminisce back to only a few weeks after they first saw the movie. If they can, they will know exactly where I’m coming from. In this one-shot, we look in on Jack and Ennis as they enjoy their sweet life together. Thanks for reading.

The utility truck driver stepped on the brakes and rolled to a stop, engine running, when he saw Ennis emerge from the barn. Work gloves and jacket in hand, Ennis approached the idling vehicle. 

“Mr. Del Mar,” called the contractor in the passenger seat. “You guys are all set. We left the paperwork and instructions with Jack. Feel free to call the office if you have any questions.” 

“Okay, will do,” said Ennis, stopping next to the truck. “Thanks very much.” 

“Enjoy!” said the contractor with a wave. 

The truck driver accelerated and drove past the barn and paddocks, kicking up dust along the winding gravel driveway that led from the main road to DMT Ranch. The one-story white house and large weathered barn were not visible from the road that led to town; the place was virtually in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes, however, the horses were seen with their riders, coursing through the paddocks, or crossing the main trafficless road for an extended ride in the nearby State Park. 

Ennis looked to the sky. The afternoon sun had already begun its journey from the rocky peaks in the east toward the rolling hills of the west, indicating that it was long past lunchtime. He had been working all morning in the stables. Not wanting to interrupt Jack and the workers, he spent the lunch hour rehabbing a foal’s injured leg. Since he and Jack bought the ranch with Jack’s windfall settlement of LR Newsome assets when Jack and Lureen divorced, the men had worked tirelessly to turn DMT Ranch into the successful business it was today. Located in rural western New Hampshire, their clientele featured mostly college professors from Dartmouth or physicians from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Ennis cared for the horses that boarded at their stables, as well as he and Jack’s small herd. Feeding, grooming, boarding, rehabilitation, in just a few short years Ennis had established a reputation in the area for his work with horses. Even the local farrier and veterinarian threw some work Ennis’s way. 

Meanwhile, Jack gave riding lessons to the spoiled rich kids of the upper crust and led group trail rides on the side. They even kept an old gentle bull on hand so Jack could teach kids about rodeo, a sport he learned in the west, and had given up while he was still a young man, before the bulls wrecked his body too badly. Ever the showman, Jack quickly attracted and retained DMT Ranch clients with his easy ways and charming smile. The business grew so that for the first time in their lives, Ennis and Jack had not only a stable income, but also enough capital to retire comfortably if either of them ever decided to slow down. Since both men so loved horses, and since ranching was in their blood, they considered themselves fortunate to be able to make a living doing what they truly enjoyed. 

Ennis wiped his feet in the mud room, toed his boots off leaving them in a corner, hung his jacket on a peg with the others, and hung his hat on its hook. Since autumn had arrived, the mornings had been cool, but the afternoon sun made him shed his jacket and gloves to work, only to sometimes don them again when the sun dipped past the midday point or ducked behind the billowing clouds.

“Jack!” he called, as he hunted through the house. 

Ennis first poked his head into the room where he guessed Jack would most likely be- the master bathroom that adjoined their bedroom. No Jack there, but Ennis smiled when he saw the newly-installed hot tub filling with water. It looked like the contractors had already cleaned up the packing materials and construction site, probably with Jack’s direction and help. 

When Ennis and Jack first moved into the ranch together, Ennis could hardly believe how organized Jack kept the place. All those years living with Lureen had taught that boy something about running a household, Ennis figured. With the help of Ennis’s daughters, Alma Jr. and Jenny, the men had filled the place with furnishings and housewares from places like Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma. On each visit, the girls showed Ennis and Jack how easy it was to surf the Internet to make their purchases. Jack seemed to get the hang of it, but Ennis was more comfortable ordering from the catalogs that soon arrived in their mailbox following an online purchase. Now, the place looked so goddamn presentable that Ennis and Jack had guests over for dinner from time to time, mostly neighbors and clients. Every fall, they hosted a potluck with a raging bonfire to welcome the end of the regular riding season. Ennis’s ex-wife, Alma, was never much for keeping their home looking nice or entertaining guests, Ennis reminisced, as he looked around the handsomely appointed living room. He shook his head and silently chuckled at the thought of his boyfriend being a better housekeeper and entertainer than his wife. 

“Jack!” Ennis called, still wandering through the sprawling home. 

“In here, babe,” called Jack from the kitchen. 

Barefoot, and wearing a dirty white T-shirt tucked into ratty old jeans more pale than the blue of his eyes, Jack was busy at the kitchen counter. 

“Whoa! What’s that you got there?” asked Ennis, leaning in to plant a lingering kiss on Jack’s soft lips. 

“I figured you must be starving by now, so I made you a sandwich. Here you go, carry these,” said Jack, handing Ennis two glasses filled halfway with red wine.

“Startin’ early, I see,” laughed Ennis, playing along. 

“Follow me, Cowboy” said Jack, carrying a plate of sandwiches in one hand, a bottle of wine in the other. 

“Mmmm, I am hungry. Been working with that foal’s gait since noontime. Whatsit, now two o’clock?”

“Time for you to relax… and eat,” said Jack, tucking the wine bottle under his arm and replacing one of Ennis’s wine glasses with a sandwich. 

“Mmmm, whut’s this?” asked Ennis, taking a bite.

“Leftover from the roast you made last night.” 

“Mmmm, either that’s real tasty or I really am starving.”

“Probably both.”

Ennis followed Jack through the house to the bathroom where the warm water was just above the level of the hot tub jets. The afternoon sun filtered through the wide skylights recessed into the ceiling. With the flip of a couple switches, Jack turned on the heater and sent the jets of pulsating air bubbles through the water. 

Ennis stood in the doorway, taking eager bites of his sandwich, listening to the soft hum of the motor. The installation of the hot tub was the culmination of a whole summer’s worth of work that Ennis and Jack spent remodeling this part of the house, all the while keeping up the business of running the ranch and stables. Not long ago, the room had been a simple small bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower stall, but after a lot of hard work, Ennis and Jack had turned the space into a relaxing retreat. There was still a toilet, but now a marble countertop with double sinks and a lit mirrored cabinet above it ran the entire length of one wall. A terrace of tiled marble steps surrounded the large circular hot tub. The walls had been painted a deep burgundy to complement the rosy streaks in the white marble tile. Rays of amber light rose from the bottom of the hot tub, penetrating the water, and giving the room a romantic glow when the florescent lights above the mirror were turned off. 

Ennis was glad to finally have the project completed before winter arrived, not only because of the anticipated fun he and Jack could have in the hot tub, but also that the bathroom was put back in working order. He would no longer have to use the guest bathroom or worry about running into construction people when he accidentally went to take a piss in his own bathroom. 

“I got the heat set to 100 degrees now, but we can adjust it up or down,” said Jack. He pulled his T-shirt upward with one hand, dragging his fingertips along his lean torso, freeing the shirt from his jeans. “The contractor and the plumber went over the instructions with me. Ain’t nothing I can’t figure out about any of this now, but if we have questions, we can just give them a call.”

“C’mere you,” said Ennis, leaving the remainder of his sandwich on the plate and putting it and his wine glass on the marble tile. He took Jack’s glass from him and set it next to his own. “Ya got some drywall stuff on yer face, bud.” Ennis brushed the white iridescent powder from Jack’s stubbled cheek. He ran his hands over Jack’s waist, taking hold of the bottom of Jack’s loosened T-shirt, pulling it up over Jack’s head and off. Jacks arms came to rest around Ennis’s shoulders. 

“I missed being with you today,” said Ennis sulkily. “Ain’t used to not seeing you all mornin’ long.” Ennis nuzzled Jack’s neck inhaling the masculine scent of his lover who had just spent the day working on the remodeling project with the plumber and the contractor. 

Jack pulled Ennis close and stroked his hair. “Then we got a lot of makin’ up to do. Hey, you got some mustard on yer face,” said Jack, running a finger along Ennis’s lips. Ennis took Jack’s finger into his mouth and his tongue danced along its length, sucking and licking away any mustard that remained. Jack was instantly mesmerized.

“Jesus, Ennis! Do you have any idea how much it turns me on when you do that?”

“Yep.”

Jack linked a thumb through one of Ennis’s belt loops as if to hold Ennis in place and worked on Ennis’s buckle with his free hand. “Now, for that relaxin’ part I was tellin’ ya about.”

Ennis found the button at the top of Jack’s jeans, undid it, and pulled the zipper down over the straining fabric. He worked the jeans over Jack’s hips, lowering them to Jack’s knees along with his boxers, releasing Jack’s cock from its snug confines. As usual, it proved irresistible to Ennis, so he encircled Jack with a callous-hardened hand and gave him a gentle squeeze. Jack easily wriggled the rest of his way out of the pants, kicking them aside and moving in for a full press against Ennis. “You still got too many clothes on, Cowboy.”

“Yeah, whut you gonna do about it?” Ennis teased, turning to reclaim his sandwich. He took another bite while Jack undid the top button of his shirt, allowing his fingers to sensuously stoke the glistening skin of the firm chest beneath the heavy flannel. Ennis held his sandwich to Jack’s open mouth, saying, “Wanna bite? You got a be starvin’ too.”

Jack ripped through a bite, chewed, swallowed, and said, “Mmmm, not too bad,” before he moved on to undo Ennis’s second button. “At least I can make an okay sandwich,” he said as he undid the button and kissed the lightly haired chest that became visible when he opened Ennis’s shirt more fully. Ennis moaned softly in agreement, thrilled with the touch of Jack’s lips after his long day of working alone in the stables. 

At the next button down, Jack assured, “But you did a nice job with that roast,” pausing to kiss the newly exposed flesh. With one hand, Ennis held Jack’s head as he moved lower, running his fingers through Jack’s dark hair, mussing it with little fistfuls of grabbing.

“You are the best cook, ever,” said Jack with a wink at the next button, kissing again, a sly grin forming on his face. Ennis took another bite of the sandwich. 

“I’d probably starve half to death, if not for you,” Jack said at the next opened button, moving back up to take a gentle bite of Ennis’s hardened left nipple.

“That’s true,” said Ennis, gasping with the rush of sensation.

“You know I can’t cook worth a damn,” said Jack as he moved lower again to lick tender circles around Ennis’s navel. 

“You are pretty handy with a can opener, though,” chucked Ennis as he polished off the last bite of his sandwich. 

Jack had worked his way down to kneeling and he slipped Ennis’s jeans and underwear to the floor, unfettering Ennis’s erect cock in the process. Jack then began to remove Ennis’s socks, but he knew he wouldn’t get very far, because if there was one ticklish part of Ennis Del Mar, it was his ankles. After so many years together, this was one fact that Jack knew all too well. 

Although Ennis thoroughly enjoyed being disrobed by Jack, when it came to ticklish ankles, he couldn’t stand it. Jack burst out laughing and rose to his feet. He gripped Ennis by the shoulders and kissed him hard on the mouth while Ennis tried to control his giggling, finally removing his socks, himself, muttering under his breath. 

“So much for trying to be romantic,” said Jack with a smile, taking another sip of wine. He was able to successfully torque things up again by rubbing his palms along Ennis’s arms, from his shoulders to his hands, kissing Ennis’s wrist as he undid one cuff button, kissing Ennis’s fingers, before proceeding to the opposite cuff button, to do the same, before peeling Ennis’s shirt off and casting it to the floor with the other clothes. 

Jack wrapped his arms around Ennis and they held each other close, hands caressing smooth sweat-tinged skin, Ennis’s hands running over the downy-haired curves of Jack’s ass. 

“Ennis, I hope you know you ain’t the only one who was missing their fella today,” said Jack, licking along Ennis’s upper lip before his tongue probed his mouth, Ennis’s tongue meeting it and playfully capturing it between his lips. 

“I know darlin.’”

“Let me go pour us a little more wine and then we can check out our new playground together,” said Jack. Ennis sat on the top marble step of the hot tub platform. 

Naked, and with his cock aroused for Ennis’s attentions, Jack turned to retrieve the bottle and wine glasses. As he did so, Ennis looked on, almost spellbound. Maybe it was the heat from the pulsating water in the hot tub, or the wine that he drank on an empty stomach, or maybe the soft hum of the motor, but for just an instant, Ennis gazed on the perfect form of his lover- his very own life companion, with a rare sense of awe. Sometimes, when he looked at Jack in moments like this, he could hardly believe he was real. It had been impossible for so long, that even now, after all these years, it still sometimes seemed like a dream that they were together. Ennis looked on and admired Jack’s sheer physical beauty while he poured the wine, from his strong bicep, to his soft hairy belly, to the delicate patch of skin between his asshole and his balls, every curve and every crease that Ennis had caressed and tasted and loved over many years now. “Mmmm… Jack,” Ennis smiled softly. Funny, Ennis still didn’t believe himself to be, as his folks would have said- ‘queer,’ because there was no other man for Ennis, but Jack. He was never attracted to any other person, male or female; it was only Jack who simply took his breath away. And here they were, together for always. Suddenly, in just as brief an instant as he had the thought, the daydream ended when Jack startled him back to reality by putting a wine glass in his hand, although the warm thoughts he had about Jack would remain with him always, just beneath the surface of what he could verbalize on most days. 

“Daydreaming, bud?” Jack asked.

“Uh, I don’t know. I think the wine got to me, that’s all.” 

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Uh, huh.”

“Okay, here goes,” said Jack as he climbed the two steps up to the hot tub’s edge before descending into the warm bubbling water. Ennis followed behind him, sinking himself into the water and dunking his head into the liquid warmth, blowing out spurts of spit-water when he surfaced. 

Jack clinked his glass together with Ennis’s, the sound reverberating off the walls of the unfurnished room. Jack took a swallow. Ennis sipped the sweet red liquid and said “Aaah,” before placing his glass on the hot tub’s edge. 

“Won’t this feel great on your tired bones after you’ve been working with the horses all day?” reminded Jack, steering Ennis over to the wall so that the pulsating bubbles drove into his skin soothingly. 

“Mmmm, that feels good, and hopefully, it will work on some of your aches and pains too, old man,” said Ennis. 

“Who ya callin’ old?” asked Jack as he wrapped his legs around Ennis’s’ waist, setting his wine glass next to Ennis’s on the marble shelf. “Asshole,” he added for good measure.

Ennis slid his hands under Jack’s ass cheeks and pulled him closer. Jack wrapped his arms around Ennis’s shoulders, their wet skin smacking together, chest hairs dancing on the surface of the water, intermingling. Their lips met, Jack’s tongue entering and exploring Ennis’s mouth, tasting the wine on his breath, inhaling the sweet scent of hay and horse that was purely Ennis, that no shower, scrubbing bath, or hot tub could ever diminish, a scent from which Jack would never tire. When their mouths separated, Ennis groaned, rolling his head from side to side. 

“Turn around and I’ll rub your back, En,” said Jack, loosening his leggy grip on Ennis’s waist. Ennis turned in the water so his back was to Jack, Jack’s legs spread wide on either side of Ennis, his feet anchored somewhere on the mysterious new interior moldings of the hot tub. Jack first rubbed his palms over Ennis’s smooth wet back. Concentrating hard in a rare silence, Jack kneaded methodically, working on the tight muscles, slowly turning them into soft handfuls of flesh. Applying pressure with his thumbs, Jack moved in little circles working the tension out of Ennis’s neck and shoulders. 

Ennis lolled his head forward, enraptured with the wonderful sensation of Jack’s massage in the relaxing water, forgetting the foal’s injured leg and his other cares of the day. As Jack worked his touch on Ennis’s back, Ennis recalled a time like this on Brokeback when they were young… 

_Ennis had just come back to camp after he had agreed to switch duties with Jack by taking over the herding tasks. He was starving when he arrived, having only eaten some biscuits and jam for both breakfast and lunch. More than taking care of his hunger though, Ennis wanted to wash up and get the dust and grime of the day off him. Jack was almost done making supper, when Ennis shaved with his dull razor, and laughed that if Jack didn’t need any more hot water, Ennis was going to try to wash “everthing he could reach.”_

_Ennis stripped off his clothes and sloshed the green wash rag in the pan of sudsy hot water. He ran the cloth over his body, paying particular attention to his cock and balls which were chaffed from riding more than usual on this day. With supper almost ready, Jack finished peeling and slicing the last of the potatoes, extinguished his cigarette, and quietly approached Ennis. Squatting by the water pot, Ennis didn’t hear Jack behind him and didn’t realize Jack was there until he felt Jack’s warm hand on his back. Ennis turned his head and looked up at Jack. Jack’s friendly blue eyes sparkled and he bit his lower lip before speaking, “I can help ya get any parts ya can’t reach, bud.”_

_Ennis didn’t speak. Jack took the wash rag from him, plunged it into the hot water, and wrung it out with one hand. He spread the rag open over his palm and began to rub Ennis’s back. At first, Ennis thought it felt strange to have Jack rubbing his back with the rag, but in some way he thought it was awful nice of Jack to want to help him out. At only nineteen years old, he was confused and relaxed at the same time. He took a deep breath as Jack scrubbed his back thoroughly. Ennis couldn’t remember the last time he felt so pampered, or felt such attention paid to him alone. For the first time, in a long time, he felt like he was worth a damn._

_Jack rubbed the cloth all along Ennis’s back from top to bottom, until he reached the cleft of Ennis’s ass, before he figured that Ennis’s back was as clean as it was going to get, and he didn’t dare go any further. He unceremoniously dropped the wash rag back into the pot and said, “Supper’s ready.” An uncomfortable part of Ennis wished that Jack had never stopped, and wished it wasn’t time to join Jack at the campfire for supper just yet…_

“Where are you?” Jack grinned, taking his hands off Ennis’s back, breaking contact. 

Ennis lifted his chin off his chest and shook his head from side to side. He lifted his right arm out of the water and reached behind him to caress Jack’s neck. “Darlin,’ you just knocked me out cold with all that nice rubbing. I was havin’ a daydream of the best kind.” 

“Whut kind of daydream is that En?” 

“I was dreamin’ about when we first met, but it was the kind a dream where yer not sure if it really happened or not. Ya know, like when there’s some open space between whut ya know an’ whut ya try to believe… I guess I’m jus’ tired.” 

“Guess so, babe. You was almost asleep,” said Jack nuzzling Ennis’s ear. “Tell you what, I think we should take a nap this afternoon.” Jack squeezed Ennis with his legs. “I only had one lesson scheduled for today, and wouldn’t ya know it? - the Cullen twins- they came down with chicken pox and had to cancel, so I have the rest of the day off and can start my weekend early.” 

“Mmmm… a nap sounds like a fine idea,” Ennis agreed. 

“I’m not too tired now, but I get the feeling I will be before too long,” said Jack as he bit down lovingly on the fleshy part of Ennis where his neck curved into his strong shoulders, while rubbing his erect cock against Ennis’s ass, more than just a suggestion. 

“Uh, you suspect you will be tired soon, do ya?” smiled Ennis as he pushed back against Jack.

“Suspect so,” said Jack as he released his grip on Ennis and hopped up to sit on the edge of the hot tub. He reached over and opened the door of the mirrored cabinet and brought out a plastic tube. 

“Got somethin’ for us, bud. Hold out yer hand,” said Jack. 

Ennis turned partway around and held out his hand. 

“Hunh? A new kind?” he questioned as the clear gel swirled onto itself like soft-serve ice cream into his palm. 

“Yeah,” said Jack. “It’s supposed to work, even under water.”

“Well, whut do ya know, they’re always thinkin’ a something,” said Ennis as he stroked some of the lube onto Jack’s erect cock. 

“Stand up outta the water a minute, En.” Jack slipped his ass over the edge of the tub and stood in the water again, fighting hard to catch his breath against Ennis’s stroking. 

Without stopping his hand movement, Ennis stood in the thigh-deep water for Jack. Jack squeezed some lube onto his fingers, put the bottle down, and cupped Ennis’s balls with his left hand while he coated Ennis with the lube from his right hand. 

Ennis’s leaned forward to reach underneath Jack’s balls. His knowledgeable fingers quickly found Jack’s tight opening. He gently pushed a slippery finger inside, making Jack moan wildly. Barely able to control his pleasure, Jack gasped, “Slow down En, or I’m just gonna shoot all over ya!” 

Ennis released his grip from Jack’s cock and instead worked on smoothing the wrinkled skin of Jack’s balls while working another finger into Jack, massaging his opening while Jack put the lube down on the edge of the hot tub and pumped lightly up and down the length of Ennis’s cock, Jack’s thumb teasing the emerged head with its own clear fluid. 

Jack caressed Ennis’s face with his left hand, fingering his ear lobe and running his hands through his curly locks before finally grabbing Ennis’s head and pulling it toward him so that their lips met, tongues touched and tasted before urgently plunging and exploring the mouths that were already known so well, but that always beckoned new discovery. When they finally eased apart, they descended into the water. Jack reclined on a submerged molded bench, the pulsing water soothing his back. Ennis floated above Jack and crawled his way up Jack’s body until they were face to face, Ennis resting his chin on Jack’s chest, losing himself in his eyes. 

Ennis breathed tentatively. “When was the last time I told you that you have the purtiest eyes I ever seen?” 

Jack nearly blushed. “You tell me that a plenty, Ennis.”

“No, I ain’t kiddin.’ I could jus’ spend all day doin’ nothin’ but lookin’ at ‘em bud, they’re so purty.”

“All day? Comin’ from Mr. Busybody himself, I s’pose that means a lot,” Jack grinned. 

“Jack, I swear, they are just not a normal color for eyes to be. I can’t figure out whether it’s yer lashes that make ‘em look that way, or whether it’s the color, or what.”

“Come closer and look in the black part of ‘em En.” 

Ennis moved close so his eyes were only an inch from Jack’s.

“Whut do ya see, Cowboy?” 

“Well, I’ll be damned, I see my own self! How’s that?” 

“Ennis, you mean to tell me that you didn’t know that everyone’s eyes do that? I can’t believe you didn’t know that before.”

“Maybe I knew, and was just tryin’ a get closer look at ya, ever think a that, Dumbass?”

Ennis, I don’t think we could get much closer,” Jack giggled.

“Oh, no?” 

Ennis touched his lips to Jack’s and closed his eyes. Jack reached up to cradle Ennis’s face between his hands. When Ennis’s lids fluttered open, Jack looked lovingly into his chocolate eyes. Jack positioned himself better in the warm water, taking advantage of the many unexplored features that lay submerged in the hot tub. He soon found a good place to position his back and with legs splayed and knees bent. Kneeling, Ennis pressed himself forward. With the help of the new lube, Jack’s readiness, and Ennis’s willingness to press harder, they were joined together in the bubbling waters of their exciting and new private retreat. Jack liked the feeling of being buoyant. Ennis firmly held his hips as he, too, seemed to float, slowly sliding, rocking and grinding, trying to find Jack’s sweet spot. Jack reached his hands up to squeeze Ennis’s nipples, moaning with a sense of urgency. Ennis brought Jack’s frisky fingers from his nipples to his mouth and sucked them in, his tongue flicking over them while they were trapped inside. Jack removed Ennis’s right hand from his hip and moaned softly as he wrapped Ennis’s fingers around his cock, anxious for some relief. 

“I’m getting’ real close, darlin’” said Ennis with a catch in his breath, licking Jack’s fingers, eyes squinting shut. 

Jack bit his bottom lip, then opened his mouth as if to cry out, but gained control of his voice and said, “Go ahead, bud, I’m right with you.” 

“Oh God Jaaaack!” Ennis moaned a primal sound that echoed off the bathroom walls, his hand pumping away at Jack’s cock. When Jack felt Ennis’s warmth release inside him, he followed loudly with “Enniiiiis, babyyyyy!” as he shot streams of white liquid into the fizzing water. 

Convulsing together in the heated pool, they were both flush with panting when they stroked and caressed each other into a satisfied silence. Neither spoke for a full minute. When they disengaged, Ennis allowed himself to float above Jack in the warm water again, a thin trail of white semen seeping into the water behind Jack.

“Hey, bud?” Ennis asked. 

“Yeah?”

“Who you callin’ ‘baby’?” grabbing both Jack’s wrists in his powerful hands and forcing them backwards. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t control myself,” laughed Jack, pushing back with all his strength.

“You’ll be sorry boy, because payback is a bitch,” said Ennis. 

The two tussled, the position of the potential victor undecidedly wavering between the two, until Jack got a hand free and splashed Ennis with a warm wave of water.

“Well, well, well, Twist,” said Ennis, grabbing Jack’s offending hand and squeezing it tightly. “I never ‘spected you to fight dirty like that, where’d ya learn a move that from?” shaking his head to clear the water from his eyes. 

“Learned it from the scrappiest fighter of ‘em all- Ennis Del Mar,” he could barely control his laughter. 

“That so?” With that, Ennis’s mouth made hard contact with Jack’s right nipple, teeth biting down teasingly while Jack’s hands fought themselves free again. 

“Stop!” Jack shouted. “You’re just gonna get me all riled up again.”

“That’s the idea,” laughed Ennis. 

Jack playfully pushed Ennis’s head under water and dunked his own under as well, diluting the traces of sweat from their activity, before yawning and declaring, “I’m ready for our nap.” 

“Me too.” Ennis climbed the steps out of the hot tub. He grabbed a towel for himself and tossed another to Jack. Jack caught the towel in midair as he stood to exit the tub, one corner of the DMT monogrammed bath sheet dipping into the bubbly warmth. 

The towels had been a housewarming gift from their nearest neighbor, Miss Jessie, who ran a Bed and Breakfast down the road. The elderly woman absolutely adored “the boys,” as she called them, entrusting them with the care of her own horse, and providing them with a freshly baked pie every time she visited. 

Jack toweled himself off, while Ennis worked on drying his hair by rubbing the towel vigorously over his wet head. Jack picked up his clothes and tossed them into the hamper. He picked up Ennis’s shirt, held it to his nose and sniffed it. “You gonna be wearin’ this again?” he asked. 

“Naaah, I been wearin’ that all day, probly stinks.”

Jack added it to the hamper, hung his towel on a hook, and took Ennis by the hand. A moment later, the sleepy lovers were turning down their quilt and bedcovers. They slid in next to each other, damp hair on the pillows, tired bodies on the soft cream-colored sheets. Arms and legs intertwined, together they sought and found the most comfortable position.

“Mmmm, you’re nice and warm,” said Jack. 

“Mmmm, you too, I think I’m likin’ that hot tub,” said Ennis.

“Wake us up before it gets too late,” said Jack, half asleep already.

“I will, darlin’,” said Ennis as they snuggled in each other’s warmth and drifted off to sleep. 

An hour later, Ennis woke. The clock on the nightstand showed that it was 4:30. He carefully worked himself away from Jack as quietly as he could. Not quietly enough.

“Ennis,” Jack murmured, his sleeping fists grasping at nothing but bedcovers and air.

“Shhh… you sleep now. I’ll wake you up in a bit,” said Ennis kissing Jack’s cheek tenderly, then quietly adding, “I love you, Jack,” before grabbing some clean clothes and making his way to the kitchen, dressing himself as he went. 

Ennis opened the refrigerator and took out the package of boneless chicken breasts that he had thawing. He found a glass bowl, opened the package of chicken, and placed it in the bowl. In the refrigerator, a plastic container half full of last night’s leftover salad caught his eye. Giving the container a shake, he determined that there would be enough to go with tonight’s meal. He grabbed a bottle of Italian marinade and poured some over the chicken, turning the pieces with his hands to coat them. He rinsed his hands and put the chicken back in the refrigerator along with the bottle of marinade.

Taking two potatoes from the bin, he washed them, pricked them with a fork, doused them in sea salt and wrapped them in foil. He stepped through the sliding glass doors to the patio, lit the barbecue, and placed the potatoes on the metal grate. 

Returning to the kitchen, Ennis quartered a half dozen Macintosh apples, put them into a plastic bag, and spent the next half hour coaxing the boarded horses back into their stalls, bedding them down for the night, giving each a fresh flake of hay. He then turned his and Jack’s horses out to graze in the fading afternoon sun. 

He stopped on the patio to give the potatoes a turn and threw some kindling on the outdoor fireplace. When the kindling was ignited, he carefully added a few small sticks to the fire, waiting for them to catch. Satisfied with his start, Ennis lay two split logs a few inches apart atop the growing fire, and lay a third log across the top of the two, before he sat and rested on one of the wooden benches that encircled the fireplace. 

Ennis noted that the weather was beginning to get cooler at night and the sun began to set earlier each day since autumn had arrived. Before long, he and Jack would be watching the first flakes of snow. The sun had just slipped below the horizon when he looked up to the sky to see if he could discern the first star of the evening making its brightness known against the purple sky. 

It was in these rare quiet moments, when Ennis was alone, and without an immediate task that required his attention, that he was able to reflect on the circumstances of his life and the joy he had found with Jack. Although the stars above were the same stars that always shined on them when they were on Brokeback Mountain, and during the twenty years that followed, things were so different now. Sometimes, when Ennis thought back to the times when he spent only a couple weeks each year with Jack, on their so called fishing trips, Ennis was sad and regretful about all the wasted days that he could have spent with Jack, instead of being a paranoid Dumbass. He became teary-eyed when he thought of everything he now had; a successful business, a nice place to live, a good relationship with his daughters, and best of all a soul mate and lover who howled his name when he put the blocks to him good. Ennis would have had none of these things if not for Jack. He figured he’d probably be some poverty-stricken recluse with nothing to live for, without Jack in his life. He thought himself one lucky sonofabitch that Jack Twist hadn’t quit him. 

Ennis hadn’t heard the sliding glass door open, but he felt Jack’s reassuring arm around him as he asked, “Anything interesting up there in the heavens tonight?” 

“Just sendin’ up a prayer of thanks,” replied Ennis, turning to face Jack, hugging him and kissing his warm mouth. 

“Oh, yeah? Whatcha so thankful for?” asked Jack, sitting beside him. 

Ennis looked down, closed his lips tight after mumbling something indiscernible and turning his empty hands palms up to the sky.

Jack recognized this as one of Ennis’s ‘moments,’ those times when Ennis was feeling something deeply, but when it was something that his shy heart had trouble finding the right words, or any words at all, to explain. Jack tightened his hold on Ennis, gently stroking his left cheek with his right hand.

“Tell me,” he said softly, knowing that it would be only a matter of time before Ennis would speak his heart to Jack. Some days, Jack would rant to high heaven about how tongue-tied Ennis could become when the moment struck. After spending forty some odd years in love with each other, still sometimes the man just couldn’t get the words out. Jack stopped himself from launching into a rant, and instead kissed Ennis’s eyes gently before lowering his head to Ennis’s chest, knowing that the man might speak if he didn’t push him by staring at him. Jack made sure his ear was near Ennis’s mouth, just in case any words escaped the man. 

“Just thankin’ the heavens that you didn’t quit me, Jack,” whispered Ennis. 

Jack took a deep breath. “Ennis,” Jack sighed, “I could never quit you.”

“I was jus’ thinkin’ ‘bout the time when we had that blowout at the lake in May of ‘83. I thought you was done with me then.”

Jack held Ennis tighter, as if to make the words flow more, to squeeze more words out of him. Sometimes it worked. 

“I remember drivin’ my truck down that road, thinkin’ a how bad I was always hurtin’ ya all the time and thinkin’ how you was done getting’ hurt. An’ when I thought a what my life would be like without you in it, I jus’ had to pull over coz I could hardly see the road.”

Jack silently held him for a minute or more. He wished the words would come, but he knew enough not to force them. He couldn’t help himself from continuing Ennis’s thought. “When I drove by and saw you sittin’ there in yer truck, I wanted to drive right on by and yell, ‘Have a nice fuckin’ life Ennis Del Mar,’ I was so mad at you. But when I saw how upset you was, and when I thought a what my life would be like if I really did quit you, I stopped and pulled over. Do you remember what you said to me?”

Ennis pressed his head back into Jack’s shoulder. “I said ‘I love you Jack fuckin’ Twist, ya got any new ideas a how we can fix this fucked up situation?” Ennis laughed, still teary eyed.

“En,” Jack whispered, holding Ennis close and rocking him gently, “Do ya know that I’m thankful every day that you pulled over and asked me that?” 

With that, Ennis smiled broadly and said, “I still love ya Jack fuckin’ Twist! I’ll love you ‘til the day I die and probly long after that even!” He grabbed hold of Jack and tilted his body so Jack’s head was merely inches from the floor and kissed him wetly with lots of lip smacking sounds. Jack felt like his skull was going to be cracked onto the cedar deck, but he knew he was safe in Ennis’s arms and that no harm would ever come to him. “Matter a fact,” interjected Ennis again between the kissing, “I bet if anyone knew the story a how we got together, they could write down all the details and people’d be willin’ to read it just fer fun!” 

“You’re fuckin’ crazy, ya old fool,” Jack yelped when Ennis appeared to be done ravaging his lips. “You get fuckin’ crazier every day! When are we eatin’? I’m starved!”

“Uh, oh, I almost forgot what I was doin’, with bein’ so busy drivin’ you crazy and all.”

Ennis went to the kitchen and returned with the bowl of chicken and a pair of metal tongs. 

“Jack,” he started, “If ya wanna fix up the table, these’ll cook up quick. Ya wanna eat out here tonight?”

“Yeah, let’s eat out here since ya already made a fire,” said Jack, stopping to throw a few more split logs on the fireplace before heading indoors to get plates and silverware. “Do you want me to open a bottle of white wine, or do you wanna finish the bottle of Merlot we started?” 

“Merlot’s fine,” replied Ennis as he put the chicken on the grill.

“Good,” said Jack as he stepped through the sliding glass door. “Better for ya, anyway. High in anti-oxidants.”

“Whut?”

“Will keep you n’ me around longer.”

“Uh, Okay, that’s fine by me, darlin” said Ennis. “Oh, and there’s some salad in the fridge leftover from yesterday that we can finish off tonight, too.” 

Ennis finished cooking and brought the plate of chicken and potatoes to the outdoor table. While they ate, Ennis reminded Jack that he still had to put their horses in for the night, telling Jack that he would promise his poor neglected horse that Jack would take him for a long ride tomorrow since he missed spending time with him today. Jack brought up the idea of buying a sleigh this coming winter so they could offer horse-drawn sleigh rides to tourists who came to ski or visit one of the Bed and Breakfasts in the area. When they finished eating, Jack volunteered to take care of the dishes while Ennis went out to the paddocks to bring their horses in for the night. 

Ennis returned to the house just as Jack finished loading the dishwasher. He saw Jack standing at the kitchen sink and he came up behind him, first wrapping one arm around his shoulders, then the other, patting Jack’s chest with a hearty thump or two, before squeezing him close. Jack pressed his head back, sighed, and closed his eyes as Ennis nuzzled his hair.

Ennis was in the habit of approaching Jack in this way at every opportunity, ever since the day Jack admitted to him that the memory of Ennis embracing Jack like such was one of Jack’s favorite memories of their time on Brokeback Mountain so many years ago - a memory that Jack clung to during the long years when he desperately tried to convince Ennis that they needed to be together forever.

“Hey sexy,” said Ennis, showering Jack’s neck with delicate kisses. “Whut’s for dessert? Mmmm, hope it’s you.”

“Why have you broken into our house, and what have you done with Ennis? You know, ‘MY Ennis,’ the one that’s not so cheesy,” Jack demanded. 

Ennis chuckled at Jack’s silliness. Jack liked to poke fun at how important that dozy embrace became to him, but deep down Ennis knew how much it meant to Jack for so many years, so he always squeezed Jack a little tighter, nestled his head in the crook of Jack’s neck a bit more ardently, and whispered to him a little more passionately, when these moments occurred. 

“So,” said Ennis, “Got any plans for the rest of the night now that you’ve caught up on yer beauty sleep?”

“I don’t have any plans, how ‘bout you? You got any plans?”

“Mmm, hmm… know whut?”

“Whut?”

“I was jus’ thinkin’ a how you make me feel like a little kid sometimes.”

“How so?” asked Jack.

Ennis softly whispered, “Last one in’s a rotten egg….”

“Yer on!” Jack shouted as they tore through the house, shedding clothes on a mad dash to the bathroom, where they spent the end of just one day in a sweet life… with plenty more days to come.


End file.
